Good points, I was thinking about it last night and there will always be that goofy name precedent from the movies, although it seemed to get worse in the Prequels, so I get that. I just think they've kind of taken it to a rather ridiculous extreme. I like cool, alien sounding names like K'Kruhk though...wish they went more that route.

And yeah, I do love the Zabraks too, and this could be a potentially cool character, and certainly a worthy figure. Just wish he had a better name.

If they are introducing new characters with an ultimate endgame in mind for them, that's great. I just hate to see continual cluttering of the cast with no occasional deletions. It gets unwieldy after awhile. Less screen time for the "regulars" and all that.

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Slice you open like a tauntaun, faster than the Autobahn, Or a motorbike in Tron, do the deed and then I'm gone.

Cartoon Network has announced the first three episodes/names and synopses - SPOILER WARNING applies!

Friday, Sept. 17: "Clone Cadets"Five headstrong clone cadets struggle to complete their training on the ocean planet of Kamino. Unable to work together as a team, they must learn to embrace their future as soldiers before they are drummed out of the academy.

Friday, Sept. 17: "ARC Troopers"When the Republic learns of an impending Separatist attack on Kamino, Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi hurry to the planet's defense. Asajj Ventress, General Grievous and an army of droids rise out of the oceans of Kamino, determined to destroy the planet's clone production facilities.

Friday, Sept. 24: "Supply Lines"Ryloth is under siege. Trapped on the surface, Jedi Master Di rallies the local forces with the help of Cham Syndulla. Desperate to save them, Senator Bail Organa and Representative Jar Jar Binks are dispatched to the planet of Toydaria, where they must convince the King Katuunko to send aid.

Holy crap, the animation is so much crisper and smoother alone in that clip. Very impressive work.

SW.com has a series of character cards that you can click on to see the bio of the character.

MAJOR FAIL:

Asajj Ventress is apparently now from Dathomir. And her species is "Dathomiri". What happened to her being from Ratattak? This is a really bad mess-up. Especially because now it seems that the whole story arc centering around her will support her "origin" from Dathomir.

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"'Want to see a trick I learned at the Sith Temple? It's called "'Force Choke.'"

Overall, I was totally impressed by both episodes. The action was very strong in both as was the narrative. It was interesting to see the origins of "Domino Squad", and life on Kamino. Clone "99" was a great character.

On a side note, I swear there were times throughout both episode were I said "Ooooh, I want that as a figure" namely a Domino Squad battle pack and the new armor decos for Echo and Fives. I guess that is still the kid in me talking.

I was thoroughly impressed - and is it just me or did the 2nd episode almost make some teary-eyes for other viewers out there?

Quick thoughts:

- I love Clone 99's character. I feel bad for him when I realized the sequence of events in the timeline, that Season 3 episode 2 came after "Rookies" - and how that affected 99.

- There was no better way to show Ventress and Grievous meeting for the first time. No wonder she bowed to him in "Rookies" - she hadn't met him yet. Also, him running into her whipping some ARC butt was completely badass - it makes me like her even more. And I love that little expression she makes when Grievous reminds her HE'S the General of the Droid Army - not her.

- The lightsaber sounds during the Ani vs. Asajj/Obi vs. Grievous duel sound a lot like the ones from Vader vs. Obi in ANH - not the humming sound from ESB onwards, but the crackling sound only heard in ANH.

- Boy, do I love Srgt. Bric! His voice and personality make his character 100 times better than what I anticipated it to be - I'm so looking forward to the mail-away now.

- You can tell the animatics have improved by the more natural movement and fluidity of Asajj's dress - if I recall correctly, it's expensive to simulate clothing movement.

- Love the music played in Clone 99's brave "trooper" moment.

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"'Want to see a trick I learned at the Sith Temple? It's called "'Force Choke.'"

I also loved these episodes. Fantastic animation and cinematography. There was so much about these shows that I loved:

Loved the origin of Domino Squad. I thought it was a very interesting choice to present these shows 'out of order' but actually with Rookies, these two complete a trilogy. The bouncing around in the CW timeline is very interesting for a cartoon (and any show in general).

Loved 99. I would like to see a figure of him, even if I can hear Hasbro saying how boring he is.

Loved Bric and Ellis (?). Bric especially. Says a lot about the Republic that they farmed the training of the clones out to bounty hunters - and that they farmed it out to a bounty hunter (Jango) in the first place. That's why the show is so much more successful than the PT films; it's a cartoon that has all these layers and ideas under the surface. Take 99 - he's a living representation of the ethical failure the Republic has made.

Loved Ventress. Did she show up once last year? Glad we're going to get a lot of her this season.

Loved seeing Echo and Fives in their new gear - instant figures - and also seeing a glimpse of Broadside, another figure we still need.

Loved the duels - very OT and much more interesting than any they've done yet.

I thought the duels were some of the best yet as well, very cool. I like both episodes a lot as well, and you could see a bit of improvement in the animation. They both looked great. I agree with what Jeff mentioned earlier, I think that some who are dismissing the show in general are missing out. It really outshines the PT in many ways I think too, even though it is a "cartoon".

I found myself thinking about what would make cool toys as well (99, Fives/Echo in new unis, Obi-Wan's underwater sub-thingy, etc.). I guess I'm the type of customer Hasbro/Lucasfilm loves, because every time I think about cutting back a little more on buying CW stuff, I see the show and get hooked back in a little again. Glad that the new season is underway though, and off to a great start.

Very pleased with both episodes. I'm really a fan of the "clone centered" type of episodes and these two did not dissapoint. I found it interesting to see a little background on the clone training process as well as what happens to the clones that don't quite make the cut. Developing the clone characters and making them seem more human adds to the tragedy of the Order 66 sequence in ROTS - not that any of the younger viewers make that connection yet

The duels were great in the episodes as well - Kenobi vs Grevious had an ROTS vibe to it, sort of like a prequal to that final duel on Utapau.

Neat to start seeing the appearance of Phase II armor on the clones as well as the appearance of the ARC-170s in the space battle alongside the Y-Wings.

One of my favorite scenes was the talk with Shaak Ti and Lama Su and how they foreshadow the need for a new DNA donor. That to me sets up a future episode...and brings up some interesting discussion. As in who they are going to choose and why he is probably a bit less of a perfect donor than Jango...

I also really liked during the training scenes the overhead speaker going off every now and then. Very Death Starish/Rebel Base